Nevada County picayune., 1887-03-30
WASHINGTON TOPICS.
Weekly Budget of News From the
 National Capital.
From our Special Correspondcnt.l

From our Special Corrcspohdeit'l
 WASHINGTON, D. C., Mar. 2I, lSSl
 The character nt he men cuiii- posing the Inter State cHiime"ce commission w.ll bc gencralIy re. sarded as presenting careful, com petent and wise selections on the part of the President. Universal approval was not to be expected considering the desirability of the positions in point Qt salary aud prominence, aud the great num- Der of applicants The claims of politicians were ignored and the highest possible fitness was tue end sought. The two Republicans are appointed to the six and three year terms, and the three Demo- crats to the five, four and two year terms. To the surprise of everybody, a Republican, Judge Cooley of Michigan, gets the choice of the commission. Judge Cooley sacrifices a25,OO0 a year which he is now receiving as receiver of the Wabash Railroad. in yielding to the earnest request of the President to accept a place on this commission the salary of which is s75OO. A number of desirable clerkshi ps will he at the disposal of the com missioners,
 An amusing incident occurred at the Presidents reception yester' day which was the occasion for much laughter, in which even the Chief Executive heartily indulged X very handsome and stylishly dressed lady was pleased spec tator of the interesting proceed ing, until the reception was at its height, when she was noticed tO quit her position, In the line, and. walking over to one of the large mirrors in the center of the room, calmly surveyed herself in the glass, 1t was apparent to all that she was not satisfied with the pie ture reflected in the crystal before her, and she appeared anxious to make the ontfit more impressive After looking around at the Presl dent she turned again to contem plate herself, and deliberately un' fastened her head.gear and placed it on the marble ledge. She then removed her hair pins and laid them beside her hat. She careful ly re.arranged the strands of dark brown hair on the top of her head quickly replaced the hair pins, re stored her jaunty hat to it's proud position, and, after a final glance al herself. this time with evident sat lsfactiOn. she approached Ihe Pres ident with the air of one who is sure to make conquest, grasped his outstreached hand, leaned over it tenderly, and was only pre- vented from appropriating it en tirely by its being heartlessly with drawn to enable the next conner tC receive the coveted handshake Our heroine passed on to mingle with the unsympathetic crowd The White House receptions are frequently the scene of laughable diversions, but this was unique and original, as it was never known to happen before that a lady con yerted the stately last parlor into a private dressing room during the progress of public reception. An old lady from New England threw additional fun into the occasion by introducing herself to the Presi- dent as a "Mugwump" from Mass achusetts. This piece of infOrma ton caused twinkle in the Presi- dents eye, and he greeted the old lady with a smile that must have gladdened her heart, for she was heard to remark that tive will re- elect that man in lSSS."
 The Government is taking steps for the immediate enforcement of the new law prohibiting the impor' tation of alien contract labor. Gus toms officers and commissioners of emigration are being instructed to prevent the landing of prohibited emigrants and their return to the country whence they came,
 A new process of treating steel has just been introduced to the Navy Department by which the discOvorer claims he can revOlu 1 tionize the art of steel tool mak. ing. The secret of the invention has not been divulged, further than to show that i; relates to the chem ical bath in which the tool is i'm mersed in the tempering process. It Is asserted that by his method of treatment, the comm0nest grades of metal-such as shear or cast steel-can be SO tempered in the matter of hardness and tOngh.